We're a geek couple living in PA with our two boys -- Milo and Otis -- who are short, orange, and furry. Oh, and they're the cats we're bookended by! We love music, movies, TV, comics, books, and comic cons. And, from time to time, we'll share our thoughts on these nerdy things.

Friday, December 28, 2018

[Closing Out 1988] -- It's time for another Flashback, but what to do in this space between the aftermath of holidays and the beginning of a new year? Well, as this topic is about looking back, I figure we could look back to the end of another year, perhaps 30 years ago. Here are a few things that occurred this week in 1988:

John Tarrant, the first Australian born Zen teacher, received Dharma Transmission

And if you would like to know what was topping the Billboard Hot 100 the week of December 25 - 31, 1988, you can read and hear more after the break. (Note: None of the bands pictured on the SMASH HITS magazine cover above appear in this week's Flashback.)

Friday, December 21, 2018

[Scrooged] -- There was a time when the phrase, "Bill Murray is starring in a comedic take on Charles Dickens' immortal classic, A Christmas Carol," might have prompted disbelief. Hel, it might even have given some folks cause for concern. But Scrooged (1988) wasn't a complete train wreck. It wasn't exactly a runaway hit, either. Even though I do count myself among the fans of Scrooged, I'm a little surprised to be typing my next sentence: Scrooged became 30 years old as of November this year! Was it ahead of its time? Has it aged well? These are questions I'll leave to others. I'm more interested in the soundtrack. Of course, Danny Elfman composed and recorded the film's score. But I'm talking about the pop radio soundtrack, tunes that tried to enter our annual vernacular of Holiday music. Now, not every track on the Scrooged Original Soundtrack (1989) was Christmassy. But if you want to revisit the few that were, well, read and hear more after the break.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Man-Eaters issue #3. Characters are tracking a big, dangerous feline. Like a panther or some such. So, when one of the characters takes out her radio and says, "Bring in the dogs," I wasn't expecting ... this.

Friday, December 7, 2018

[Madness] -- I don't know about you, but I find myself using "mad" or "madness" as a descriptor often these days. And I don't mean a pleasant kind of off-kilter oddness as exemplified by the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. No, I mean, "Aaaaaah! The world is off its godsdamned rocker and we're spiraling downward to oblivion!" In times like this (have we ever been in times like this before?), I like to turn to some of the odder tunes from my staple of 80s artists. Well, odd but yet upbeat. So, this week we'll feature three songs from across Madness' career. I've chosen two you might not have heard (or at least not remember hearing), and one song that I'm fairly sure you will recall. I have not, however, included what is likely their best known song. Post your guess as to what that song might be in the comments, which you can access with this week's playlist ... after the jump.